CHAPTER 444: THE FINE PRINT

Malachi wanted to get back to his family more than anything. Every second that he stayed here drastically increased his anxiety about getting stuck.

But Malachi couldn’t justify signing his name in the literal book of the damned just to get back to them. It was precisely the kind of reckless, irresponsible thing his girls would be mad at him for.

"I’m not signing that." His refusal was simple and plain. Neither disrespectful nor insulting.

Lucifer’s brow twitched, but his smile didn’t break.

"...Then I’m afraid I can’t help you, my young friend. Rules are rules after all."

Malachi knew that underworld gods were usually very strict about who entered and who exited their domain.

But he didn’t believe for one moment that Lucifer was that kind of monarch.

"I don’t believe you. You can send me back, you’re just choosing not to."

Lilith looked at Lucifer with veiled amusement. The devil was clearly quite baffled.

The book closed with an audible thud.

Lucifer rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Welllll.... I’m really not supposed to. But there is another way."

Malachi had been shooting in the dark this whole time. He was shocked he’d actually hit something.

"We’re all about merit here in hell. Special privileges can always be offered to those who earn them."

Malachi was beginning to get that shoe-drop feeling again.

"I’ll offer you the opportunity to compete in a series of challenges. I won’t tell you the number, but I will tell you that it won’t be something you could label excessive. If you can prove yourself, you can go home right after."

"...And the catch?"

Lucifer smiled.

"Your challenges won’t come all at once. If you win today, there’ll be another waiting for you tomorrow when you close your eyes to sleep. You win, you get to wake up right where you are. You lose, you’ll have to keep Lilith and me a bit more company."

Malachi narrowed his eyes. "...I knew you not being able to recall me at will was bullshit."

"Oh, no it’s not. See, you’re a demon now, and that means you and I would be making a pact. Demons live and die by their oaths; they have no power to break them.

If you enter into an agreement with me now, you’ll automatically arrive here every night until the challenge is completed. I won’t be summoning you, you’ll be sending yourself here on your own."

Malachi was going to be even more careful about casually throwing around his promises now.

Lucifer stuck out his hand in a friendly manner. "So? Do we have a deal, Mr. Saint?"

Malachi didn’t know if he had a choice.

He wondered what his mother would say about this arrangement if she were present. But in a way, that single thought cemented his decision.

Because he would never know if he didn’t take the deal that was being offered to him right now.

"...Fine."

As soon as the word left his lips, a red chain formed between him and Lucifer.

It vanished quickly after appearing, and Lucifer wrapped his arm around Mal while smiling like the Cheshire Cat.

"Gotta say, I’m pretty pleased to have you around already. I thought you were going to be super boring like other negative-born demons."

Malachi’s ear twitched when he heard a term he wasn’t familiar with. "Negative born..?"

"Oh, I’m not surprised you don’t know about it since it’s a lesser-known fact about demonology. But demons are made in different ways.

Demonification, which affects living mortals, is thought to speed up according to the ancestry of their original infection.

There’s some truth to that, don’t get me wrong, but indulging in lust, anger, sloth, greed and the like is hardly the only way someone falls.

It’s much slower, but what commonly demonizes a person is something as mundane as stress, self-loathing... or grief."

Malachi felt like he had been punched in the chest.

Briefly, he made eye contact with Lilith. He found her staring back at him.

She already knew. Perhaps she had known from the beginning.

"...Sorry for your loss, kiddo. Whoever it was." Lucifer apologized.

Malachi wasn’t sure how to accept condolences from the devil himself. He wasn’t even sure he could adequately process the direction his life had taken.

"But this is no time to be somber! The stage is already set and it’s time to see if you’re heading back home!" Lucifer cheered.

Malachi started to ask what he meant by ’stage’ but before he could, a red hole opened up in the floor, and he fell through.

-

Even before his eyes adjusted, Malachi heard the roaring. He felt the thrill.

Cheers flooded into his ears from every direction. Loud vibrations made his body feel like a vibrating recliner.

He opened his eyes once again, and his vision was greeted by a sea of fire.

"Demons one and all! Welcome to the blood domeeee!!!!!"

The roaring intensified. Malachi felt the strain of listening to billions of damned beings all at once.

It almost made him dizzy, but he was very slowly adjusting.

He could see better now. He was standing on a black platform above a bottomless well of hellfire.

The stands floated far enough away from the platform that collateral damage would not be a serious concern.

The demons were packed into the stands like cigarettes. However, there were some areas that seemed like private viewing rooms.

Malachi couldn’t see beyond the black glass, but he could feel himself being stared at.

The gazes were almost all predatory and hungry. Some were unbridled curiosity.

All of them made Malachi feel on edge.

"I’ve prepared a grand show for you today that is unlike any other! For our main competitor is not just any unfortunate soul, but the offspring of a god!"

The demons’ roaring became louder with the rise of their excitement. Cries for blood, anguish, and even sodomy were frequently called out.

’...Should I just kill all of them now?’ Malachi thought.

Suddenly, the ring shook with an explosion, and a cloud of dust was kicked up.

Lucifer’s voice was dripping with excitement from somewhere in the arena.

"It looks like our second contestant is too eager to begin the match! Hardly unexpected since, as they say, royalty can be very impatient!"

The dust started to settle over the platform and the demons could better see a well-known demon in black armor and a living snake wrapped around his neck.

Four wings were displayed proudly behind his back, and his golden eyes were brimming with madness and mischief.

"Ladies and gentledemons, he is the dashing punisher of thieves and wicked deals! The destroyer of the dishonest! The demon with the authority of treasures!

He is the 72nd of the exemplary Ars Goetia! You know him, you love him! Give it up for Hell’s rising star: Earl Andromalius!!"

The demons in the crowd roared fiercely. Some were even jumping out of their seats and clapping.

Ordinarily, Andromalius would have been reveling in the crowd’s adoration. But for once in his life, he seemed to pay them no mind.

When the dust settled, all eyes were on the newcomer demon holding the great Andromalius’ stone hammer with only one hand.

"You have no idea how excited I am... that I get to kill you a second time..!"